Elderly wife of diplomat was so devastated over husband's death she suffocated herself with a plastic bag

She lived a highly organised and glamorous life travelling the globe with her beloved diplomat husband.

After being left devastated by his death, Gillian Estling decided to end her days with the same meticulous order and style.

The wealthy 74-year-old gave away most of her possessions, cancelled subscriptions, wrote to friends to say farewell and compiled a '100-day count down' in her diary which ended on her late husband's birthday this year.

Tragic: Gillian Estling suffocated herself with a plastic bag while clutching a picture of her late husband in a room at the Claridges hotel

On the assigned date, she was chauffeur driven to Claridge's hotel in London where she suffocated herself with a plastic bag on a double bed while clutching a picture of her husband Ralph.

All her paperwork was neatly arranged on the other side of the bed along with instructions about what to do with her remaining possessions.

All her letters to friends arrived on the day her body was found, including a premature 50th birthday card to one marked 'not to be opened until October'.

An inquest into Mrs Estling's death heard that she had lived a 'very eventful life' working as a personal assistant to Robert Maxwell and in British Consulates in Africa.

She was married for nearly 30 years to American diplomat Ralph, who she met while working in the U.S. embassy in London.

The couple later settled in Somerset, where she became a porcelain restorer and one of the country's leading dealers in 18th century Staffordshire pottery.

But after the death of her husband in July 2007 Mrs Estling, who had no children, 'fell into a deep grief and expressed to her circle of friends that she didn't want to carry on', coroner's officer Elizabeth Riley said.

She was also terrified of having a stroke and being put into a home, City of Westminster Coroner's Court heard.

Two months after Ralph's death, grieving Mrs Estling moved to Fife where her mood briefly improved before her depression returned.

She rejected offers of help and professional counselling from worried friends, and instead inquired about travelling to Switzerland for assisted suicide.

When she was told she didn't fall into the right categories, she resolved to make matters into her own hands.

Mrs Estling paid for her Claridge's room at the same time as she began her 100-day diary count down.

During the three months before her death she meticulously set her affairs in order, giving away possessions including her jewellery, and even cancelling her subscription to the RNLI raffle so they wouldn't needlessly post tickets to her.

On her husband's birthday she left her house in Fife, Scotland and was chauffeur driven to Edinburgh railway station she handed her driver the keys to her car saying she 'would not need it for her new life in London'.

She was collected in another chauffeur driven car at King's Cross and taken to Claridge's, where two days later, on May 21 this year, she was found dead by staff with a plastic bag over her head holding the framed and enlarged picture of Mr Estling.

While in London she had written several letters to friends preparing them for her death - as well as a similar note to her sister, a nun at a secure order in Sussex.

Miss Riley said: 'Mrs Estling led a very eventful life, following a career that took her round the globe.

'Her first marriage ended in divorce in 1962 and she re-married in 1969, having first become acquainted with second husband Ralph Estling in 1957 when they were both working at the American Embassy in London.

'She spent several years as personal assistant to Robert Maxwell, as well as accepting positions to British consulates in Africa.

'The couple's main circle of friends described them as both people of humour and intellect who are absolutely devoted to each other.'

Recording a verdict of suicide, coroner Dr Paul Knapman said: 'It's clear from the documents I've seen that since the death of her husband in July 2007 she never got to grips with her grief, and it seems on many occasions she said she was going to kill herself.

'She made all these preparations, putting things away, and even counted down 100 days in her diary.

'She left everything in what I may say is impeccable order and with such preparation as I have very rarely seen.

'It makes things perfectly clear - she intended the consequences of her actions.'

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Elderly wife of diplomat was so devastated over husband's death she suffocated herself with a plastic bag